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Three BC women among five winners of grassroots business campaign

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Three BC business owners are among the five winners of a grassroots campaign aimed at transforming how entrepreneurs are funded and supported.

Sonia Strobel’s Skipper Otto’s Community Supported Fishery is among the winners.

“It makes it a reality. So we’ve been working for years on trying to open a plant that would work for a small scale fisherman. It’s such a challenge to fund these things, it’s not just the money for them but also the support to help them get off the ground,” explains Strobel.

The new funding initiative brings together a network of 500 women activators who have each contributed $1,000 to create a pool of $500,000. The women reviewed the proposals submitted from 240 female entrepreneurs across Canada and selected five ventures to give a zero per cent interest loan for five years.

“With expertise in everything that we need from project management to governance so this sort of enterprise is an incredible support network,” adds Strobel.

“While women are starting businesses at twice the pace of men, venture capital funds less than seven per cent of female-led ventures,” says Vicki Saunders, founder of SheEO. “So we put the call out for radically generous women to help us help other women and the response has been overwhelming.”